“I’m going to miss Joe Biden,” Stephen Colbert said in his monologue Monday night.
It was the Last show The host’s first episode since Biden announced Sunday that he was no longer seeking reelection. Colbert, who first suggested Biden drop out of the race shortly after the disastrous June debate, now spoke about the first time he encouraged Biden to run for president.
“On this very show, on September 10, 2015, I encouraged Vice President Biden to run. He ignored me for five years, and then he did,” Colbert said. “And I think he was a great president.”
Colbert continued: “He led this country out of a terrible pandemic. He saved countless lives by encouraging people to get vaccinated. He revived the economy, he rallied our allies, he reaffirmed America’s place on the world stage. And most inspiring of all, at no point was he Donald Trump.”
To express his gratitude to Biden, Colbert announced that he was retiring his “Joe Biden aviators,” placing them on his shelf “in a place of honor next to Captain America’s shield.”
But Colbert saved his best gift to Biden for last: “I officially retire all my ‘Joe Biden is old’ jokes,” he said, holding up a binder with that label. “They’re getting tired anyway… Just like Joe Biden. That was the last one, I swear.”
So what’s Colbert going to do with his binder full of old jokes? As many pundits have already begun to do in light of the new, younger Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, Colbert has decided that the old jokes need a better target.
“I’m now going to pull them out of service,” Colbert announced, “to use them against Donald Trump.”
